


Suffered Grievously in the Cold

by Himring



Series: Tales of Rohan [3]
Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Female Protagonist, Gen, Long Winter, POV Female Character, Rohan, Superstition
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-08
Updated: 2018-04-08
Packaged: 2019-04-20 04:33:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14253114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Himring/pseuds/Himring
Summary: Two female characters on opposite sides in the conflict between Rohan and the Dunlendings at the time of the Long Winter: Freca's daughter and Hild, sister of Helm Hammerhand.





	1. The Deep in Winter

**Author's Note:**

> Helm Hammerhand does not, strictly speaking, appear in either of these drabbles, but is a sufficiently strong presence off-screen that I have tagged him anyway.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Freca's daughter is among those besieging Helm Hammerhand, who killed her father, in the location later known as Helm's Deep.

The winter was so harsh that the besiegers suffered almost as much as the besieged. It was one thing to overrun the country, thought Wulfthryth, Freca’s daughter, another to hold it. Too many had died; even so, they were running out of supplies in war-torn Rohan.

The cursed horn sounded again.

‘The snow-troll is coming!’ cried the Dunlendings. ‘The man-eater!’

Her father’s killer had succeeded in instilling panic in all about her.

She took up her bow and went forth. They said that no weapon would bite on Helm if he bore none. She would put it to the test.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Canon would suggest that Wulfthryth failed, although Helm may have been wounded before he froze to death. 
> 
> The Tolkien Weekly prompt was "troll".  
> I think someone has written something like this before, but I can't find it anywhere, although I tried.   
> Anyway, the bit about the "snow-troll" is canonical.


	2. The Winter Broke

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even the longest winter breaks.  
> In Dunharrow, Hild, sister of Helm Hammerhand and mother of his successor Frealaf, experiences the end of the Long Winter.

Hild lifted up her face into the rain. It was coming down in torrents and bitterly cold, but at least it was not snow. Indeed, it was rapidly washing away the banked-up snow around Dunharrow. Many new streams ran down the slopes of Starkhorn and Irensaga. At the bottom of Harrowdale, the Snowbourne was already in flood.

Too late. The thaw had come too late for her brother, her nephew Hama and so many others. Starved and soaked, she stood, finally allowing herself to weep.

Better late than never. She went to see to her son’s and her people’s needs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title is from LOTR, Appendix A II (The House of Eorl).  
> The prompt was "In the Bitter Rain" (itself a quotation from The Two Towers).

**Author's Note:**

> Main title is taken from Appendix A ("both the Rohirrim and their foes sufferered grievously in the cold")


End file.
